Escape from Camp 14

Life at the pig farm was relatively comfortable: Shin did not work hard but he was never seriously beaten and bullying was not an issue. Still, he never thought or dreamt about the outside world. At this point, his life was one of “passive blankness” (84), and the anger that he felt after his mother’s execution turned to numbness.

Life outside the camp, meanwhile, was far from relaxing, with famine and floods having virtually destroyed the central economy in the mid-1990s. The Public Distribution system that had fed North Koreans since the 1950s collapsed, and there was a subsequent boom in private trading. This also led to an increased number of people seeking to cross the border into China, and Kim Jong Il tried to control the situation by creating detention centers for traders who travelled without authorization. However, it was not difficult to bribe police and soldiers with crackers and cigarettes. As Harden summarizes, “grassroots capitalism, vagabond trading and rampant corruption were creating cracks in the police state that surrounded Camp 14” (85).

North Korea’s government is unique in that, unlike any other aid recipient, it claims sole authority for transporting donated food. This angered the United States (its largest aid donor), but, because the death toll was so high and the need so urgent, the West capitulated. During this time, North Korean refugees arriving in the South reported that they had seen donated food and other aid items being sold in private markets. Bureaucrats and government elites also stole around 30% of the aid, which they then sold to private traders.

Unintentionally, then, donor countries had catalyzed “the grubby world of North Korean street trading” (86). It is because of these private markets that experts do not envisage a major famine occurring again. Private markets have since become well-established and sell all kinds of items, ranging from fruit to CD players, yet nutrition in state run institutions has barely improved and hunger and malnutrition are still prevalent. There is also a gulf between those who have learnt how to trade successfully and those who have not; hence, inequality is still pronounced. 

During times of chronic hunger, the most secure place to live was on a farm. Here, food could be hoarded and either sold for cash or traded for other useful items. In the wake of the famine, North Korea’s government had little choice but to increase farmers’ wages and offer incentives to promote food production. Private farming on small plots of land was made legal in 2002, but Kim Jong Il was uneasy about this reform. The government’s stance was that non-socialist elements needed to be nipped in the bud, and, indeed, these concerns proved well-founded: as capitalism blossomed, the government’s cast iron grip on everyday life weakened. The government therefore launched a counter-attack that commenced in 1999, when the Korean People’s Army confiscated a substantial amount of food produced on cooperative farms. The permanent deployment of soldiers on farms also bred corruption, as farm managers paid soldiers to keep quiet about the theft of food to be sold in private markets. Additionally, disputes among soldiers led to fistfights and shootouts.

At the pig farm, by contrast, Shin was oblivious to what was going on in the outside world. When he turned 20, he believed that he would live out the rest of his life on the farm; however, for reasons unknown to him, he was transferred to the camp’s garment factory in 2003. Here, workers were under constant pressure to meet quotas and to inform on one another, while guards sought out sex from the seamstresses. Crucially, though, Shin was not the only newcomer—there was another prisoner who was educated and well-traveled, and he would go on to influence Shin’s worldview considerably.   

On his arrival at the factory, Shin was no longer a passive, malnourished child. On one occasion, he lost his composure upon witnessing a repairman kick a woman in the face, and he subsequently hit the man in the head with a wrench. The factory environment also meant daily contact with women, and this made Shin nervous. Camp rules prescribed death for anyone engaging in sexual relations without approval, but the superintendent and foremen paid no heed to this rule. The women had no choice in the matter and could also benefit from less work and more food if they met with approval. When a woman became pregnant, however, she disappeared.

Sewing machines were more valuable than prisoners in the factory, so, when Shin dropped a machine by accident, he was severely punished: the superintendent ordered the chief foreman to cut off one of Shin’s fingers. For the next two days, the foreman showed an unexpected degree of compassion by filling in for Shin on the factory floor. The foreman also passed on a gift of rice flour from Shin’s father, but Shin’s feelings towards his father were still poisoned by resentment. He consequently refused the gift.

The factory was prime ground for snitching, and Shin was asked to spy on his fellow workers. After Shin reported another worker for stealing cloth, he saw that worker at a mandatory session of self-criticism. He was bound in chains, as was his secret girlfriend, and the other attendants were told to slap them in the face. They never knew who reported the stolen cloth, but Shin tried to avoid looking them in the eye. 

The new prisoner was named Park Yong Chul, and he knew senior people in the North Korean government. He was deemed an important new prisoner, and the superintendent instructed Shin to befriend him and report back on everything he said about his past. Shin attempted to do as instructed, but Park was guarded. Still, after four weeks, Park surprised Shin by asking him where his home was. Shin replied that the camp is his home, whereupon Park revealed that his own home was Pyongyang. When Shin asked where Pyongyang is, it was Park’s turn to be surprised. Park then explained that Pyongyang was the capital of North Korea and home to the country’s most powerful people.

Now that the ice was broken, Park tried to convey to Shin what life was like outside Camp 14 and outside North Korea. He explained the concept of money and the existence of item such as computers, televisions, and mobile phones. He also stated that, in South Korea, everyone was already rich. What Shin was really interested in, however, was food. As the author summarizes, “Freedom, in Shin’s mind, was just another word for grilled meat” (99). Shin wanted to escape so that he too could experience these culinary delights, and this prompted his decision not to inform on Park. This did not, however, signify a new sense of right and wrong—the decision was selfish in that it was based on Shin’s desire to continue hearing Park’s stories.

Convinced that Shin was both trustworthy and naïve, Park told him his life story: he had lost his position as head of a training agency in Pyongyang after a dispute with a functionary who informed on him to the higher-ups in government. He then traveled to China illegally with his wife, with the intention of returning to Pyongyang after 18 months in order to vote in the election for the Supreme People’s Assembly. North Korean elections were empty rituals, but Park was worried that, if he missed the vote, his absence would be noticed and the government would declare him a traitor and send his family to a labor camp. However, he was detained at the border and the North Korean authorities accused him of being a spy for South Korea. After a lengthy interrogation, he and his family were sent to Camp 14. He told Shin that he regretted having tried to return to North Korea, as his foolishness cost him his freedom.

Park always carried himself with dignity, even ensuring that the rats Shin found were cooked properly. He also alarmed Shin by bursting into song, though, eventually, Shin learnt the lyrics and quietly sang along. ‘Song of the Winter Solstice,’ is still the only song that Shin knows.

In November, four Bowiwon guards paid a visit to the prisoners’ nightly meeting of self-criticism. The chief guard said that he wanted to talk about lice and asked infested prisoners to step forward. A man and woman said that lice were out of control in their respective quarters, and the guards handed them a bucket filled with cloudy liquid. To demonstrate its effectiveness, he asked five men and five women in each of the infected dormitories to wash themselves with the liquid. Shin and Park also had lice, but they were not given the opportunity to use the treatment. In around a week, all the prisoners who had used the liquid developed severe skin conditions and high fevers. They were subsequently loaded into a truck, and Shin never saw them again.

By this point, Shin had had enough of life in the camp and began to think about escape. It was Park who had made such thoughts possible, as they had developed a relationship of trust and mutual protection. Shin no longer saw the camp as home but as “an abhorrent cage” (106).